Not answering calls from private numbers

dcarroll

for people that dont answer them do they not think "who was that ringing me, oh that could have been the girl of my dreams and she might not ring back now that I havent answered"

saying that i don't know if i feel the same after some unknown wanker rang me at 3.30 on private number asking me why i wasnt at some "festival" with them

seamus

I tend not to answer calls from private number or numbers I don't recognise unless I'm expecting a call. I will sometimes answer them if it suits me, but usually it doesn't. If you know who it is that's ringing, you can tell how long you're going to be talking to them, or you can tell them you're busy at the moment. If you don't know who it is, then you could be talking to them for ages.

They want to contact me, so they can leave voicemail and I'll deal with it later.

Femelade

I've had to change my number 3 times in the last 4 yrs because of an ex that just wont let it go. Things have been fine now the last yr or so, but needless to say i never answer private numbers, whoever it is can leave a message and i will ring them back..etc. but the thought of answering the ohone to hear his voice att he other side...brings shivers up my spine..

sam34

copacetic wrote:

.

as for the ex-directory thing, they do come up as private, but anyone I know well who has one saves my number with the 4 (I think?) in front to show their number. They do this for anyone they expect to answer..

how does this work? do u put the 4 before or after the 087/6 part?
very handy if it works

markk06

Do all these people who dont answer private numbers have that high an opinion of themselves? Why wouldnt you answer private numbers, if it turns out to be a prank you can hang up straight away if you like.

JohnK

markk06 wrote:

Do all these people who dont answer private numbers have that high an opinion of themselves? Why wouldnt you answer private numbers, if it turns out to be a prank you can hang up straight away if you like.

But why should we waste our time by answering it in the first place?

Red Alert

Work used to hide its number even though it wasn't ex-directory and when rung from other extensions it came up.

Basically if someone wants to talk to me they'll display their number, end of story.

markk06

JohnK wrote:

But why should we waste our time by answering it in the first place?

Because 9 times out of 10 it isnt a prank call.. Are you seriously that busy that you cant spend two seconds picking up the phone and saying hello??
Called ID is a relatively new thing... How did you all manage to survive not knowing who was ringing you for all those years...

Femelade

markk06 wrote:

Do all these people who dont answer private numbers have that high an opinion of themselves? Why wouldnt you answer private numbers, if it turns out to be a prank you can hang up straight away if you like.

oh yes, i have a very high opinion of myself. My ex alwasy rings on private number. if i answer it , he will ring at least 80 times in one night. now, why would i want to put myself through that...?

JohnK

markk06 wrote:

Because 9 times out of 10 it isnt a prank call.. Are you seriously that busy that you cant spend two seconds picking up the phone and saying hello??

A lot of the time yes I am that busy. My arse doesnt scratch itself you know!

markk06 wrote:

Called ID is a relatively new thing... How did you all manage to survive not knowing who was ringing you for all those years...

I usually didn’t bother answering the phone at all.

markk06

Femmy wrote:

oh yes, i have a very high opinion of myself. My ex alwasy rings on private number. if i answer it , he will ring at least 80 times in one night. now, why would i want to put myself through that...?

OK so maybe in your case you have a reason... Most people here on the other hand are just doing it because they are up their own arse.

robinph

markk06 wrote:

Because 9 times out of 10 it isnt a prank call.. Are you seriously that busy that you cant spend two seconds picking up the phone and saying hello??
Called ID is a relatively new thing... How did you all manage to survive not knowing who was ringing you for all those years...

Not having caller ID on the land line I do end up answering that not knowing who it is on the other end of the line. But as there are only about 3 people who have that number if it is not one of their voices that I hear then the phone just gets put down straight away, not because I'm that busy or anything like that though, I'm just not bothered about anything they might be trying to sell me.

With the mobile I don't have to bother with going through the effort of pressing the answer button. If I don't know who it is on the other end of the phone then the only thing I could possibly want to know from them is who gave them my number, but it's really just easier not to bother.

Savman

Feck sake. There's valid reasons for not answering private numbers and there is no excuse for with-holding your mobile number unless you like a bit of mystery in your life, or like catching people off guard.
I don't answer to Private numbers, in fact I hardly answer to ID'd numbers either. If I'm in the mood for yapping (which isn't often) I'll answer to anyone but usually couldn't be arsed.
Landline is different though, for some reason that encourages conversation - probably because yer sitting on yer couch when it rings so you don't mind a bit of waffle. But getting calls on the mobile when out in traffic or doing stuff, no thanks. Text and I'll get back

humbert

I see where you're coming from but you're off the mark. It's not self importance it's just that in today's world there are drawbacks to being always reachable and some people just don't like being annoyed by any stranger that feels like it.

markk06

humbert wrote:

I see where you're coming from but you're off the mark. It's not self importance it's just that in today's world there are drawbacks to being always reachable and some people just don't like being annoyed by any stranger that feels like it.

If you dont want to be disturbed then turn off your phone.


On the subject of "people blocking their mobile number" Its not just mobile numbers, My home phone and a number of my friends are ex-directory which means they come up as unknown number, most places which use large phone systems will also come up as unknown number. I also receive a number of calls from UK numbers, which do not show up on my phone. So therefore its not always somebody trying to be sinister if it comes up as a private number

humbert

You'll learn if someone you know has a private number and may start answering them, otherwise no problem. yes places with large phone systems do often come up private, like call centres and work.

Seriously why would you turn off your phone completely when you can just not answer numbers you don't know. not really the best solution.

johnnyrotten

Whats the problem with answering private numbers? To me its just plain ignorance. If you don't like the sound on the other end - hang up!
My landline is ex-directory and therefore its private.
I don't care if it shows up or not, I just don't want a listing in the phone book.

johnnyrotten

It seems there are a lot of people who don't answer their phone at all.
Why bother having a phone and why bother replying to a text.
Personally i hate texting , I think its impersonal - I'd rather talk

DeepBlue

sam34 wrote:

copacetic wrote:

as for the ex-directory thing, they do come up as private, but anyone I know well who has one saves my number with the 4 (I think?) in front to show their number. They do this for anyone they expect to answer..

how does this work? do u put the 4 before or after the 087/6 part?
very handy if it works

If you are calling from an ex-directory land-line or a mobile that has caller display withheld then if you put 142 in front of the number you're calling it means you're number will be displayed.

Savman

johnnyrotten wrote:

It seems there are a lot of people who don't answer their phone at all.
Why bother having a phone and why bother replying to a text.
Personally i hate texting , I think its impersonal - I'd rather talk

Simple really, just because I have a phone doesn not mean I am available 24/7/365. There are times I am available to speak and times I'm not, for various reasons (some business, some pleasure). If the number comes up, I will usually call or txt back when I'm in a position to. I don't like small talk anyhow, and prefer the "cut to the chase" element of texts at least there's no bull****.
Phone: "oh hi im ur bestest friend hows life blah blah blah <5min waffle> im a bit short of money..."
Text: "would u have a lend of a score?"

biko

I never look who it is before I pick up so, yeah, I answer private numbers.

Sir Oxman

I think it's hilarious that some posters are getting upset about other people not answering withheld numbers.

It's the individuals choice surely - I have my reasons for not bothering with private numbers either on my mobile or landline.

I'm not rude or ignorant either - if it's *that* important, the hidden caller will leave a voicemail.

markk06

johnnyrotten wrote:

It seems there are a lot of people who don't answer their phone at all.
Why bother having a phone and why bother replying to a text.
Personally i hate texting , I think its impersonal - I'd rather talk

If this forum was an accurate reflection on society Vodafone, meteor and O2 would close tomorrow, because from what i can see, nobody answers their phone... ever. Maybe it is due to a lack of interpersonal skills? or maybe its because nobody rings them?? but either way its awful that their lives are soo busy that they cannot answer the phone, and yet have the time to talk about not having time to answer the phone on an internet forum???

I answer private numbers because people who are close to me have their numbers blocked for unknown reasons, and my family number is ex-directory.

copacetic

markk06 wrote:

If this forum was an accurate reflection on society Vodafone, meteor and O2 would close tomorrow, because from what i can see, nobody answers their phone... ever. Maybe it is due to a lack of interpersonal skills? or maybe its because nobody rings them?? but either way its awful that their lives are soo busy that they cannot answer the phone, and yet have the time to talk about not having time to answer the phone on an internet forum???

you are getting a bit upset about it. are you one of these private number people who enjoys the odd prank calls or a bit of stalkage?

it's simple really, caller id is great because you know who is trying to contact you. If I don't know I won't answer as I may not want to talk to the caller.

An analogy may be that on boards you can see who posts what. For instance if we didn't have post ids I wouldn't be able to watch out for your inane opinions in future or put you on 'ignore' for that matter.

Duckjob

Femmy wrote:

oh yes, i have a very high opinion of myself. My ex alwasy rings on private number. if i answer it , he will ring at least 80 times in one night. now, why would i want to put myself through that...?

Umm, you might want to get the gardai involved?

Anyhoo, I work from a home office a bit. If I need to ring someone I'll use my home landline and its set to withhold ID because I don't want them getting my home number. If they want to get hold of me they have my mobile no.

humbert

copacetic wrote:

you are getting a bit upset about it. are you one of these private number people who enjoys the odd prank calls or a bit of stalkage?

it's simple really, caller id is great because you know who is trying to contact you. If I don't know I won't answer as I may not want to talk to the caller.

An analogy may be that on boards you can see who posts what. For instance if we didn't have post ids I wouldn't be able to watch out for your inane opinions in future or put you on 'ignore' for that matter.

:D

astrofool

Would answer the land phone, but would only answer a private number on the mobile if I was expecting a call, otherwise, they should leave a message.

Besides, I have enough of a life that I don't need to feel validated by talking to randomers on my mobile.

insafehands

People who don't answer private numbers, unless for valid reasons, are fúcking morons and should get over themselves. It's not cool and it achieves nothing.

markk06

astrofool wrote:

Besides, I have enough of a life that I don't need to feel validated by talking to randomers on my mobile.

When was the last time some randomer rang you for a chat. Clearly people ringing you off private number are ringing you for a purpose or know you already. Get over it